


of letters and espionage

by unopenedgrapejuice



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Costume Parties & Masquerades, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Secret Identity, Spies & Secret Agents, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 22:05:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15649824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unopenedgrapejuice/pseuds/unopenedgrapejuice
Summary: when kyungsoo's husband dies, he doesn't ever expect to see him again. when he takes matters into his own hands, fate proves him otherwise





	of letters and espionage

February 21, 1942

Dearest Darling,

It feels like everyday news of the war gets worse, and I am dreadfully homesick. If I didn’t have you at home, I’m not sure I could go on. I think about you every night before I go to bed, and every morning when I wake up. The cook’s food is nothing compared to the food you make for the two of us. Sometimes someone will turn on the radio and music will play, and some of the men will dance and we’ll all laugh. When I get back, we can go to the movies and eat cake and ice cream and dance to music. . .

Always your husband,  
Jongin

Kyungsoo sighed as he folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. Neatly putting the newest edition into the box by the bed, he pulled out a different one from a month earlier.

 

January 15, 1942

Dear My Lovely One,

Yesterday I got your letter, and it was the best birthday present a man could ask for. I’m sorry I couldn’t send you anything except a letter. For your birthday, I mean. I wish I were there to kiss you, cuddle you, and-

Kyungsoo paused from reading and blushed. From there he continued.

Anyway, the men here are reading their letters from home right now, and it’s really quiet. Soon, soon I will be home. I love you.

Always your loyal husband,  
Jongin

 

Kyungsoo’s fingers traced over the words on the paper. His mind recalled all the memories he had with Jongin before he enlisted.  
Jongin saying he was going to clean up his clothes from the floor but always forgetting. Jongin laughing when his husband threw him a surprise party for his 21st birthday. Jongin grabbing Kyungsoo’s arm to dance when a slow song came on the radio.  
Kyungsoo could feel tears welling in eyes, and he brushed them away. He wouldn’t cry, not now. He had to be strong. The only time he cried was when Jongin left for the army, and he hoped to keep it that way. Kyungsoo piled all the letters in the shoe box, stowing it below the bed.

 

A few weeks went by where Kyungsoo did his normal job, engineering planes and fixing the broken ones. After two more weeks passed, Kyungsoo began to get antsy. Usually every month mail would arrive from his husband. It must’ve been delayed or something, Kyungsoo would think when every day he would check the mail, only to see it empty. No letter came that month. Or the two months after that.  
Sitting in bed one night with a book in his hands, Kyungsoo had a startling thought. What if the reason there was no mail was that had Jongin died? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t thought of this before, but all those times he was so afraid of it being true that he pushed it into the back of his mind for days, weeks. This time he thought of the question as a full possibility. And the possibility made him want to throw up, cry, or both.  
Five more days passed of sleepless nights and rereading war notes that a letter was deposited in his mailbox. He hurriedly tore it, but instantly wished he hadn’t.

29 GOVT  
5-17-42  
KIM KYUNGSOO

DEAR MR. KIM,  
I DEEPLY REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT YOUR HUSBAND, PRIVATE KIM JONGIN, IS MISSING FROM ACTION FROM THE OPERATION AS OF 8 MAY 1942. I AM SORRY THAT WE CAN GIVE YOU NO FURTHER DETAILS. IF DETAILS DO ARISE, YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONTACT-

The words became too blurry to read, though it didn’t matter because Kyungsoo knew how it would end. He sank to his knees, the room echoing with sharp sobs and hiccups. Hot tears splattered onto the paper, and Kyungsoo’s hands crumpled up the letter that changed his world, that ruined everything.

The next week, his boss was shocked when he quit his job at the airfield. Kyungsoo was even more shocked in himself when he showed up to the government building and spoke to the man in charge.  
“Sir, I would like to become a spy.”

 

Two years later

“Jesus! I can hardly breathe!”  
“Sorry, sir. It’s all part of the dress.” Each yank on the corset had shorter and shorter breaths coming from Kyungsoo’s throat. He looked down at the black dress adorning his body and sighed with all the air he could spare.  
“Oh why did I have to be a woman for the party?” With one last tug, the lacing was finished.  
“Because with your womanly wiles, you can pry any information from any man. Also I think we all wanted to see you in a dress,” the assistant added with a grin, stepping back to avoid Kyungsoo’s swat. The man held out a mirror for Kyungsoo to see the finished product that took two and a half hours.  
Heavy pink blush covered his cheeks, and twin black eyeliner wings lined his eyes. His bright red lips grimaced once he saw the long, dark wig on his head.  
“It looks awful.”  
“It looks passable as a woman,” the assistant corrected him. “Here are the finishing touches.” He clasped a string of pearls around Kyungsoo’s neck, and revealed a dazzling feathery thing behind his back. “Tonight, you’ll be a raven.” The mask had a short beak that came over the nose to a sharp point, with diamond encrusted feathers filling the rest of space in layers. While the man strapped on the mask, he asked on last question.  
“Tell me your mission again.”  
“Go to the Lumière des Etoiles Ball, find a hidden Nazi Spy, leave at 9:00 with the car.” He shifted the wig on his head. “Oh–and try not to have my cover blown, or get killed.”  
“That’s right. Ages 20 through 50. What’s your name?”  
“Valentina Chastain.”  
“Job and age?”  
“A nurse, 24.”  
“Good. The L-pill is in the pearl to the left of the clasp, you have your knives in your shoes, and you  
have your radio. You know all the entrances and exits already. And remember, no one can know what you look like or your true name. This is your first mission, so you better not screw it up”  
A woman opened the door to the room. “You have 30 seconds.” The two nodded. The assistant helped him down the pedestal, much to Kyungsoo’s grumbling.  
“How to do women walk in heels all the time?” Even though he had practice walking in the shoes for weeks now, they still pinched like hell.  
“Women are strange creatures.” He left the room, receiving a hardy slap on the back. “Good luck out there, Valentina.”

Kyungsoo entered the mansion with his mind buzzing. The giant ballroom was filled with masked suited men and masked women in shiny dresses with champagne in their hands. As he walked toward the center of it all, small stares lingered on him, on his costume. Anxiety steadily rose in his throat, which he tried to down with a bubbly drink from a server nearby. While he drank, he tried to scan the place for anything out of the ordinary, but with little success. A walz began playing from the orchestra, and couples grabbed one another’s hand and pulled them to the dance floor.  
Suddenly a moustached man appeared in front of Kyungsoo.  
“May I have this dance?” He offered his hand to which Kyungsoo took with a smile he hoped didn’t look too forced.  
“What is your mask supposed to be?” Kyungsoo asked, referring to the horned mask on his head. As he was swept to the center of the room, the man smiled to reveal a grotesque set of yellow teeth. Kyungsoo barely held back a cringe. The man’s right hand slithered to the small of his back, his left moving up to grasp Kyungsoo’s free hand.  
“A minotaur, love.” The older man flashed a greasy smile. Kyungsoo was officially grossed out now.  
The two of them fell in a box step with the man as the lead. “May I know your name?”  
“Valentina,” Kyungsoo recited automatically. “Yours?”  
“Major Alder at your service.”  
By now, Kyungsoo had already noticed the wedding ring on his hand, the slight limp on his right foot, and the strong smell of musky cologne used to try and cover up the scent of tobacco.  
“Where did you get that mask, darling? It looks quite brilliant on you.”  
Kyungsoo acted casual. “Oh my cousin made it for me. I think she said there are 88 diamonds on it.” He observed the man’s face for any kind of recognition or understanding for the number, but was just met with a polite smile. Eighty-eight stood for ‘heil Hitler,’ as the eighth letter in the alphabet was ‘h’. Okay, so he was out.  
Kyungsoo glided away once the song ended to find a new partner. This time it was a younger man with nicely gelled blonde hair and a nervous smile. He wore simple white fox mask.  
“Are you a crow?” The man asked, guiding his partner to the beat.  
“Close enough. I’m a raven,” Kyungsoo explained. “The mask can be confusing, with all the 88 diamonds and all.” Kyungsoo didn’t show his disappointment when his partner seemed unaffected by anything he said or did. Thankfully, he still had two hours, and two long years at spy school.

Kyungsoo was faced with the thought that maybe there was no spy here after all. He had gone through 14 partners, all of which had shown no signs of being a spy. He quickly escaped to the second-floor bathroom for a temporary break. Locking himself in one of the stalls, he sat down on the closed toilet and tore the heels off his feet. Relief washed over him as he set the shoes next to him and itched his wig. He still had 45 minutes left to go, and he was holding onto hope. After a few minutes, Kyungsoo begrudgingly put his heels back on and looked into the mirror to fix his makeup.  
The door managed to hit someone on the way out. There was a small ‘oof,’ and Kyungsoo let the door close to reveal a tall, handsome man with an interesting mask covering half his face. It was framed with black and gold, with shattered white pieces that fell down from his eyebrow to the top of his lip. Deep brown eyes stared back at him.  
“Sorry,” Kyungsoo blurted, then instantly scolded himself. He did not come all this way just to blubber in front of a handsome stranger! Information - he was supposed to get information, right. The tall man smiled, and wow that’s so gorgeous.  
“That’s okay, I’m fine.” Damn, his voice was so deep and smooth, like aged whiskey. The man’s eyes lingered on his for an uncomfortable amount of time when lilting music drifted up from the first floor. As if snapping out of his trace, he presented his arm to Kyungsoo.  
“Well, would you like to have a dance with me?” Kyungsoo gladly slipped his hand through the stranger’s arm and gave his best “I’m definitely not trying to extract information while falling in love with you smile.” He desperately hoped it worked.  
Once they were on the ballroom floor, the taller immediately took the lead. “What an exquisite mask you have on,” he murmured, eyes trailing the path of feathers down to his lips. Kyungsoo hoped he didn’t notice the flush on his cheeks.  
“Thank you. I was told it has something around 88 diamonds.” The spy was watching carefully, carefully, until there it was. A flicker on the stranger’s face. Though not a definite give away, it certainly was nothing to overlook. Kyungsoo was getting excited-the first real drama of the night.  
“That’s. . .a lot of diamonds.” The other man said and furrowed his brow.  
A time of period passed where the two said nothing, just held each other and listened to the music. The man revealed no other clues or lead on’s, until the latter broke the silence.  
“Do you want to take this outside?” He glanced over Kyungsoo’s shoulder to the outside area by the garden. The shorter followed his gaze, even though he knew where every door and possible exit in the mansion a month previous. His heart beat erratically in his chest with the knowledge that they’d be alone and that Kyungsoo would come home a hero.  
The stranger let his hands fall to the small of Kyungsoo’s back and guided him to the direction of the doors. The warm night breeze his face and arms when his dance partner twisted the knobs and let them outside. Music filtered in from the ballroom, but not enough to overpower the conversation. The combination of the moonlight falling on the two and the handsome man’s hands around him made Kyungsoo feel drowsy with conteness. For a cherished moment, he allowed himself drop his head on his partner’s shoulders, not thinking about the mission or the danger he could have been in. Gripping hands on his waist made Kyungsoo snap out of the haze.  
“I know a woman like you couldn’t be here just for a ball,” he murmured. Kyungsoo almost choked. “So what are you really doing here?”  
Maybe it was wine he had earlier or the fact that addictively sweet voice he had, but he felt bold and rebellious. Dangerous, this was dangerous territory.  
“What if I told you I was a spy?”  
“What if I told you I was one also?”  
Immediately Kyungsoo shoved him away, stumbling a bit in his heels. With a few feet in between both of them, the latter snatched the radio from the secret pocket in his dress and brought it up to his lips. Just before he could crack it to life, it was thrown aside and smashed to the ground. Kyungsoo looked up to find the man standing right before him, breathing heavily and eyes shining. At that moment with the other towering over him, all he could think was, ‘I’m not ready.’  
Spinning around and grabbing the edge of the balcony, he hurled himself off and into the garden below. His life flashed before his eyes as he fell. Luckily he landed in a bush of sorts that seemed to cling onto his wig. He rolled out of the bush and onto the grass, just in time to avoid the other spy’s body land just were he had been. Kyungsoo got to his feet and took off across the trail, wigless. He knew past the garden was an exit, he just had to find it.  
The moonlight created shadows on the hedges, and he could clearly pick out another figure chasing after him. His aching feet were making it more difficult to run so he paused to reach down to remove the heels, costing him precious seconds. Once he had the shoes in his hands, he turned around and pitched them at the man closing in on him. The man’s arm came up to deflect the blow, but it slowed him down.  
Around the hedge, past the bushes of hydrangeas, along the fountain spraying water. Damn, how big was this garden? Of course all his knowledge about the mansion escaped him, it's a fanfic what can you expect. Kyungsoo darted a glance behind him to see the masked man closer than comfort. The latter’s arms pumped up and down as his long legs tragically ate up the distance between them.  
Suddenly the man pushed off on one foot into the air, arms outstretched. It was sort of ethereal, a god-like man airborne as his body blocked out the moon. ‘Ha,’ Kyungsoo thought. ‘There was no way he could tackle m-,’ it was cut short when when a huge body tackled him and pinned him to the grass.  
“You were a very convincing woman,” the man laughed breathlessly.  
He reached to slide the mask off but instead got a harsh headbutt to the face. Pain tingled through his nose and he could feel blood trickle down his lip. A broken nose, he could tell already. Equally angered, the two grabbed at any purchase that was closest to them: their faces. Kyungsoo’s mask was torn off first, and suddenly the man froze in shock. Thinking ‘this is weird’, Kyungsoo stripped the mask off the other’s face, exactly mirroring the other’s expression.  
“Kyungsoo?”  
“Jongin?”

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is a hot mess im so sorry. i researched so much to write this, like looking up old war letters to loved ones was really interesting. and it turns out its rare to find spies cross-dressing for a misson, so i thought i'd incorperate that into this story. this was written in a span of three months all spread up umm i hope u enjoyed pls comment?


End file.
